Apparatus for opening oil lines in automotive engines



March 1963 v. P. LONARDO 3,081,785

APPARATUS FOR OPENING OIL LINES IN AUTOMOTIVE ENGINES Filed April 26, 1961 INVENTOR VINCENT F. LONARDO' ATTOR EY encrusted and clogging debris.

rates .This invention relates to maintenance apparatus for internal combustion engines, and more particularly to a specialized tool for opening up certain oil passages in such engines which may have become clogged after extensive use.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a tool for the above purposes which is simple in design, economical to produce, and which is highly versatile in use, including one instance in particular which dispenses with the need of a major engine disassembly heretofore required to unblock an oil passage. More specifically, the invention seeks to provide a simple and versatile tool which is highly efiicient in opening up small oil passages extending through the engine cylinder block and head assemblies for carrying lubricating oil to the rocker arms of the head valves of such engines. In one wellknown and widely used make of automotive engine the oil passage to the rocker arms utilizes a small annular space surrounding the shank portion of one of the bolts or studs used to hold the head structure of the engine onto the cylinder block thereof. In this embodiment the shank of the hold-down stud or bolt is made slightly smaller in diameter than the diameter of the bore receiving the stud or bolt. I have discovered that by properly designing and sizing an elongated hollow tool that the same may be substituted for the bolt or stud in the assembly of the engine during certain maintenance operations and be made operative to momentarily impart an exceedingly high fiuid pressure to the oil passage which is operative to thoroughly clean the entire passage from I have also discovered that the same tool may be so constructed and sized as to one of its component parts that this part may be readily and alternatively used as a ram to impart fluid pressure to and thus clean an oil passage in another make of well known and widely used engine.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following specification and the accompanying drawing wherein there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of an automotive engine showing the tool of my invention in operative position for accomplishing an oil passage cleaning operation therein;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a cylinder head assembly of another make of automotive engine, showing a part or component of my general tool in operative position in an oil passage of the head for the purpose of cleaning out this oil passage;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the assembled general tool of my invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of a part of the assembly of FIGURE 3.

The apparatus of my invention comprises a tubular body member which is integrally formed at one end with an enlarged head 11 formed with flats on its outer periphery in hexagonal relation to receive a conventional socket-head wrench. The other end of the tubular member 10 is suitably threaded at 12 to be received within the threaded portion 13 of a 'bore 14- formed in the cylinder block 15 of a well known and widely used automotive engine. In this engine there is provided a cylinder .atent 0 from a passage 21 which is formed in the metal mass of the head 16. As shown, the passage 21 communicates with a bore 22 in head 16 aligned with the bore 14 in the cylinder block 15. Entering at the bottom end of the bore 14 is a passage 23 which leads from a tube 24 extending downwardly to an oil pump, not shown; or to a lubricating oil pressure manifold, also not shown, by

which lubricating oil under pressure is furnished to the rocker arms of the engine. When servicing the engine of FIGURE 1 the conduit 20 is easily removed and cleaned, and likewise the passage 21 is easily cleaned. However, the passage 23, tube 24 and connective passages at the above'mentioned pump or manifold are not readily accessible and are therefore very ditlicult to clean. Heretofore, it was necessary to remove the head 16 from the block 15 to permit the cleaning of these lower portions of the oil conduit. With my invention, however, it is only necessary to remove the valve cover, not shown, of the engine and then that one hold-down bolt or stud which coincide with the oil passages 21, 23. The above mentioned tubular body member is then inserted in the bore formerly occupied by the bolt or stud in the manne shown in FIGURE 1. e

Referring now further to FIGURE 3, it will be noted that the tubular member 10 is provided on its outer surface adjacent the head 11 with an annular groove to receive a resilient sealing O-ring 25. At a point adjacent ..the' threads 12 the wall of the tubular member 10 is formed with radial apertures 26 and, for a purpose to be later described the tubular member 10 is open at its bottom end as shown at 27.

The principal bore in tubular member 10 is accurately machined and sized to snugly but slidably receive an elongated ram 28 having a handle or anvil portion 29.

With only the barrel or body member 10 of the tool installed in an engine as shown in FIGURE 1, lubricating oil may be introduced into the top open end of the principal bore in the body member 10 from a pump type of oil can, for example, until the principal bore is about one-third to one-half filled. At this time the entire conduit means leading down to the pump or to the manifold will be likewise filled. .The plunger 28 is now inserted in this principal bore of the body member 10 and forced downwardly to position the bottom end of the plunger into solid contact with the oil. Entrapped air will, of course, escape upwardly about the plunger. After such solid contact is made, the handle or anvil 29 is given a sharp rap by a descending hammer and the resultant shock will be instantaneously transmitted through the oil column in the bottom portion of the principal bore and outwardly through the apertures 26 to the passages 23, 24, et seq. I have found that this shock wave is sufficient and operative to dislodge any debris which may have accumulated in the passages 23, 24, et seq. to instantaneously open up these passages to allow lubricating oil to flow freely therethrough when the engine is re-assembled.

In conformity with the stud or bolt which it replaces, the outer diameter of the tubular body 10 is somewhat smaller than the diameters of the bores 22 and 14 so that as regards the latter oil may issue from all the apertures 26 and be forced into the passage 23. {The O-ring 25 prevents the oil pressure developed from escaping upwardly through the passage 21 and conduit 20. In the use of the tool of my invention the same may be removed by unscrewing immediately upon completion of the passage-cleaning operation and replaced with the normal hold-down bolt or stud.

In the head structure of FIGURE 2 the body member 30 is integrally cast with a number of bosses 31 which are suitably machined to provide pads for mounting the rocker shaft brackets, not shown, of the engine. It will be understood by those skilled in the automotive engine art that in this particular make of engine one of these brackets is drilled to conduct lubricating oil from the exit of a passageway formed in a boss 31 and in the bulk metal of the head into the hollow rock shaft for ultimate distribution to the rocker arms. In the drawing this passageway is indicated by the reference numeral 32 and is shown as coming up through the center portion of one of the pads or bosses 31. In actual practice the passageway 32 is accurately drilled with close tolerance as to diameter, and I accordingly make the plunger 28 of my tool to the same diameter and tolerance. Again,

the lower end of passage 22 leads through suitable conduit means down to a pump or a pressure manifold, not shown, and it is the function of thetool of my invention to open up this complete passageway, if clogged, so that lubricating oil may pass freely upward from the pump or manifold to the rocker arms. With the rocker shaft supporting bracket removed from the pad containing the passage 32 oil is deposited in the passage until its level comes within an inch or two of the top of the passage. The plunger 28 is now inserted vertically in the passage and is forced downwardly to expel any entrapped air and thus reach a solid engagement with the oil. By striking the handle or anvil 29 a sharp hammer blow in a vertical direction the entrapped oil in the passage is raised to a very high pressure momentarily and the resultant shock is operative to dislodge any debris which may have been clogging the passageway.

In either of the above explained representative uses of my invention, it is not necessary to remove the cylinder heads from the cylinder blocks of the engines being serviced for the purpose of opening up the overhead valve oil lines as has been required in the past. Thus,

the tool of my invention has proved itself quite valuable in such maintenance operations.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is new and desire to secure by letters patent is:

A tool; for forceably clearing an oil passage in an internal combustion engine of the kind having a cylinder block and a cylinder head separated therefrom by a gasket and secured thereto by a bolt and wherein said passage discharges into space surrounding that portion of the bolt which is in the block and from which space oil may move upwardly around said bolt into the head; comprising a tubular body member headed at one end and threaded at the other end and adapted to be installed in the engine in place of said bolt, said body member having a longitudinal bore therein extending inwardly from the headed end thereof and also having an opening in a bottom portion thereof for communication between said bore and said space and passage when said body member is installed as aforesaid, a plunger slideably received in said bore and having an integral exposed and enlarged head, said plunger terminating short of said opening, said member having an annular groove in its outer surface intermediate said opening and said headed end, and a resilient sealing ring in said groove, the arrangement being such that when said tubular member is installed in the engine and filled with oil below said plunger a hammer blow on the head of said plunger will force oil downwardly through said opening and passage to open said passage while the clamping action of said installed tubular member prevents blowing out of the gasket by the shock pressure generated in said oil.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,036,205 Paul Aug. 20, 1912 1,238,269 Cornwell Aug. 28, 1917 2,089,317 Wilder Aug. 10, 1937 2,147,593 Bracken Feb. 14, 1939 2,259,644 Kling Oct. 21, 1941 2,292,617 Dana Aug. 11, 1942 2,292,634 Hansen Aug. 11, 1942 2,595,592 Magnuson May 6, 1952 2,621,668 Cripspin Dec. 16, 1952 

